General Tips for Promoting Urinary Health

Navigating life with unpredictable urinary incontinence can make you feel as though you’re chained to something. You may feel chained to your home because you think you’re unable to leave for too long. Maybe you feel chained to your incessant worries about what could go wrong. Urinary issues might make your world feel smaller and unsafe, but you can employ some strategies to dig yourself out of your worry. Read our general tips for promoting urinary health to learn more. They don’t promise complete symptom elimination, but they’ll instill a sense of control to help you physically feel better.

Limit Your Risk Factors

In the grand scheme of things, many risk factors contribute to incontinence. Some risk factors—such as cancer and Down syndrome—have a genetic or irreversible basis, but others allow you an element of control. Type two diabetes, for example, is one such factor you can work to avoid. Diabetes can lead to a damaged nervous system, and neuropathy (nerve death) can in turn lead to an inability to control urination. To avoid diabetes, limit your sugars, work out regularly, and drink water over anything else. Smoking is another example of a controllable risk factor—smoking could lead to bladder cancer and subsequent operations that affect your urinary system’s function, so do your best to avoid it.

Otherwise, limiting your risk factors simply involves staying healthy. By eating a balanced diet, maintaining a baseline level of activity, and being mindful of your psychological health, you can generally decrease your chance of developing incontinence.

Urinate Regularly

Urination is a greatly behavioral aspect of your life. This means that, if you’re intentional and consistent about your behavior, you have agency to adjust your urination routines. Scheduling bathroom breaks or trying to go every couple of hours can teach your body when and how often to go to the bathroom. At the same time, you avoid retaining urine and causing an infection. Once you get into the routine of going consistently, you have a lower chance of unpredictable incontinence episodes.

Watch What You Eat and Drink

Another general urinary health tip is to be careful about what your body takes in. Consuming caffeinated beverages can irritate your bladder and lead to an infection that disrupts your urination. Meanwhile, drinking too little or too much water can irritate your bladder or increase your risk of stress incontinence, respectively.

Exercise Your Pelvic Muscles

Our final note is to exercise your pelvic muscles to increase your muscular control. You stop and start urination by engaging and relaxing these muscles, and when they weaken, your control diminishes. To strengthen them, get into the habit of tensing and relaxing your lower abdomen for several repetitions each day.

Incontinence pads are useful tools to combat incontinence symptoms. If you want to get your symptoms under control as you look to introduce urinary health practices, consider contacting our team at TotalDry. We supply adult care products, waterproof sheeting fabric, and more to help you prepare for your symptoms and regain your sense of agency.